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    On Sunday , October 52 , 1 again attended M . Bert , at La Tom % who gave us a discburse of greater length and considerably more force and energy than the former . His text was Eccles . viii . 11 : " Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily , therefore the heart of the sons of men is fxilly set in them to do evil . " He began with saying , " In the day that thou

    eatest thereof thou shalt die . " But Adam ate of the forbidden fruit , and did not die for a considerable time , God had important designs to answer by the prolongation of Adam ' s life , and was graciously pleased to grant him a respite from the execution of his sentence , which gave him time to repent and bitterly lament his transgression , and to acquaint his descendants with the dealings of the Lord towards him .

    In our days , also , when men transgress the commandments of God , the penalty is often long in following the offence . And it is on this account that the heart of the sons of men triumphs in security , and , abusing the forbearance of the Almighty , is fully set in them to do evil . ** I purpose shewing you at present , first , that if the whole sentence against crime were executed in the instant of transgression , there would cease to be any such thing as virtue in the world . Second , —That the offender does

    really begin to feel the effect of his crime as soon as it is committed . And third , —That unless he repent and avert the Divine displeasure from his head , the full punishment of sin , although deferred , will certainly overtake him in the end . May our Heavenly Father , who giveth every good gift to them who ask him in sincerity , grant that the words of his servant may be effectual to the improvement of the hearer , and the vindication of his ways before men , which we humbly ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ . Amen . " Under

    the first head the preacher observed , that were the thunderbolt of the Divine displeasure instantly and invariably hurled at the head of the criminal , the terror with which this would inspire our minds must necessarily destroy the nature of virtue , which consists in a filial obedience proceeding from a principle of love . Besides , the immediate death of the sinner would preclude the

    possibility of his repentance and reformation , and deprive his brethren of the good effects arising from the sight of a sinner turning from the errors of his way . The occasional occurrence of this instantaneous punishment answers all the purposes of a salutary warning ; while , on the other hand , the example of those who live and reform their conduct is of the greatest service to the world , as well as a theme of joy and exultation to the inhabitants of heaven ,

    as we learn from the words of our Saviour in the fifteenth chapter of Matthew ' s gospel . Under the second he remarked , that although the sentence against the wicked be not fully executed here below , yet that conscience anticipates the sentence of the Judge , and begins to punish the offender almost in the instant of commission . His ruined health , loss of reputation , and dissipated property , were likewise to be considered in the same light . Under the third head he remarked , that death would soon seal the fate of the

    transgressor , ' * and after death is the judgment ; " " and after the judgment—but here , " said the preacher , " I content myself with saying , he is in the hands of God I ! have " done but little justice to this discourse , many passages of which were very striking . I could not help remarking that the conclusion shewed the mildness and forbearance of the preacher ' s own disposition . " Many an orthodox preacher in my own country , " I thought , " would have dwelt

    principally on the eternity of hell torments as the only means of vindicating God ' s justice in permitting sinners to live in this world . But the pastor of La Tour delights to represent the gospel as a message of peace and joy , and

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    & 64 The Waldemei .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1827, page 564, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1799/page/12/